The BOM is back!!!

Okay, I had a few moments the other day so I decided to try to catch up on my BOMs. I've been busy with the Hexy quilt and the Buzz Lightyear quilt but now that they have been given to my loved ones, it's time for some "me" sewing. Technically this is a work in progress and a block "finish" so I will be linking up at WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and Richard & Tanya's Link a Finish Friday.

Here is the block:

This is one of the June (I know, it's almost September) blocks for the Craftsy Block of the Month. It's called a Greek Cross. The cross was supposed to be all the same fabric, but I have been using only scraps and I thought these scraps would work even if they are not the same color. While doing it, I also learned about the ever popular "scant" 1/4 inch seam. It basically means that you sew the seams just a little bit under the 1/4 inch mark to make up for the area taken up by the stitch itself. It helps to keep highly pieced blocks from shrinking in size the more you sew pieces together. It worked nicely. There is another June block called the Octagon, which looks easy, but I have not got to that one yet. I am also doing the Quilt Story BOM, for which I am still on June as well :(

I also wanted to mention some of my useful tools that I used:

This is the first time I've used a rotating cutting mat. Wow, it's quite handy! I don't have to move the ruler or my body anymore!!! Great for half square triangles and trimming down blocks with a square. Also, my bloc-loc is always dandy! It makes perfect HSTs because it grabs the folded seam and lines up all the edges to trim them down to perfect squares (and gets rid of the dog ears). I love it! Also, I used the draw the line method for making HSTs so you can see my water soluble blue marker in the picture too. This method really saves you time.

I also wanted to mention that I am doing the Shades of Grey charm swap (from my last post) and I finally got all the fabric squares cut out and ready to mail off:

I found myself trying really hard to be exact. These will be used by others, so I could not just settle for close enough like I normally would.

Again, I am linking up at WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced, and Link a Finish Fridays at Richard & Tanya Quilts.


Also, if you got this far and feel like commenting, I am currently looking for quilting ideas for quilting a quilt made entirely of hexagons. :) Right now, I am thinking of going with straight lines corner to corner, or maybe some sort design to make them pop, like just outside the ditch. Thoughts?

Until next time,
Mike.

Swap-portunity

I've decided to join a charm swap called Shades of Grey. Has something to do with a dirty book, I heard, but I'm doing it anyway :)

I don't know if it's full yet, but go here if you want to join. I've added the button in my sidebar as well.

Until next time,

Mike.

LAFF (Link A Finish Friday) My Buzz Is Gone!!!

Well, I'm sad :( I've finished two quilts in two weeks and I had to send them off :(
Here are the pics:

 I used glow in the dark thread (that kept breaking thanks to Coats & Clark)

 Easy blocks to make.

 I will have to make a pattern for this one.

 Nice label from DisneyWorld trip.

Practicing on the quilt sandwich :)

Xaiden is my grandson. He is 4 on Monday. I hope he likes it. He always has much to say!

Linking up at Richard and Tanya's Quilts LAFF (Link a Finish Friday).

Until next time,

Mike.

I've got a Buzz, checking my blog stats and Richard and Tanya's Link a Finish Friday

***ALERT*** Before proceeding to the awesome story I have to tell you below. I need Facebook "likes"/followers/fans. Go here and click like. Then, enjoy this awesome story I have to tell you :)

So, it's Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya's Quilts. They're very lenient with the rules which is excellent considering I do not finish full quilts everyday. It just has to be something you finished! :) A block, a quilt top, a project, whatever! So, I have an almost completed project, but tonight I finished the quilt top. Tomorrow I back piece it and Sunday I quilt it. It has to be in the mail by Thursday. It's for our grandson who turns 4 real soon. He likes Buzz Lightyear, so I went with that theme :) Here are some pictures:

 Piecing.

 Mitch giving moral support.

 The blocks up close.

 Seams going the wrong way, which I left and did not fix because it goes with my mantra.

Adding the sashing.

Quilt top finished with the border.

Tomorrow I will back piece the back. I have picked out some things that he likes. Cars from Disney. Monkeys, Space Monkeys, robots, space men, stars, etc.

I have decided to quilt it with glow in the dark thread in a stippling with 5 point stars (bobbin and top). I can't wait to find out his reaction from his mom. I told her about it and to record it and upload to youtube so I can see his reaction. They do not live near us. I know he will love it. He knows more about space and astronomy than I do. That would be the flash cards we got him :)

I also wanted to mention a recent discovery. I was checking my stats for the blog and it said I had over 200 hits referred by craftgossip last week. Well, it turns out, the editor from craftgossip posted my Hexy finish on craftgossip (and did not let me know) but now I have added the "featured on" button to the right hand side bar. It's pretty awesome. I signed up for their newsletter. Awesome! Don't forget to follow me on Facebook. I'm lacking there. I'm also on Twitter, but doing good there. Sign up for both if you have not already.

Anyway, I am linking up at Richard and Tanya's blog.

Until next time,

Mike.

The Hexy Quilt is Finished!!!

Just wanted to let you know, you will not have to hear about this one any more :) I started it in March and probably spent a total of 60-70 hours if you add up all the hours hand sewing on the train. So, here are the pics:

Since it was a birthday present for my daughter, I put some of her favorite things on the back!

Until next time,

Mike.